U.S. Pat. No. 6,947,571 shows a system in which a cell phone camera captures content (e.g., image data), and processes same to derive an identifier. This identifier is submitted to a data structure (e.g., a remote database), which indicates corresponding data or actions. The cell phone then displays responsive information, or takes responsive action. Such sequence of operations is sometimes referred to as “visual search.”
Related technologies are shown in patent publications 20070175998, 20060240862, 20060056707, 20060026140, 20060012677, 20050227674, 20050185060, 20050144455, 20040199387, 20030083098, 20020178410, 20020152388, 20020102966, 20020072982, 20010055391, 20010001854, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,251,475, 7,174,293, 7,065,559, 7,016,532, 6,993,573, 6,941,275, 6,788,293, 6,766,363, 6,675,165, 6,491,217, 6,389,055, 6,199,048, 6,121,530, 6,002,946 and in patent application Ser. No. 11/941,268, filed Nov. 16, 2007.
The presently-detailed technology concerns improvements to such technologies—moving towards the goal of intuitive computing:devices that can see and/or hear, and infer the user's desire in that sensed context.